Chapter 8
CHAPTER
EIGHT
KOA
An unfamiliar car sat in his driveway.
Tutu had hundreds of friends and family on the island, but Koa knew most of their cars. He shook his head already knowing what awaited him inside. He should have known she’d do her own thing.
Koa slowly opened the screen door and shut it quietly behind him, wanting to get the lay of the land before letting Tutu know he was home.
“But you have two extra bedrooms, yeah?” an unfamiliar voice asked.
“Yes,” Tutu said, the wariness in her tone putting Koa on edge.
What had this man done that had Tutu feeling wary? And why was she in the house with a strange man all alone?
Well, they weren’t alone anymore, since Koa had arrived home, but Tutu didn’t know that.
This was why Koa didn’t want Tutu to have to deal with a renter…
. Koa would find another job. He had a couple of evenings off each week when he wasn’t performing fire knife at the luau.
He could go from the firehouse to the beach to a new evening job, maybe Puka’s?
Then he’d go back to the beach then the firehouse.
Yes, he’d be exhausted but if he was worried about leaving Tutu at home alone? He’d rather live with the exhaustion.
“So why can’t I use both of them? I need space for my boards,” the voice pressed.
“I stay renting one room,” Tutu stayed firm. Koa would have been proud of her if he wasn’t so danged annoyed that she’d taken this upon herself. “You can use da carport for your boards.”
“You Hawaiians have no respect for property. My boards cost thousands of dollars….”
Koa made quick work of the hall between him and where the conversation was happening. The young blonde surfer was intimidatingly standing over his grandmother, his face in her face.
Before Koa could blink, he pulled the tank top of the guy hard, yanking him out of his tutu’s space.
“You want to talk about respect, braddah?” Koa came in hot, but this guy was lucky Koa wasn’t teaching him in the old-school ways. Less words and more action. “How about you respect your kupuna?”
The tanned surfer’s face drained of all color.
“Get out,” Koa commanded quietly. More for his sake than the surfer’s. He knew Tutu would hate for him to turn to violence, but Koa couldn’t look at the guy’s face any longer without wanting to punch it. What would he have done to Tutu had Koa not arrived?
The ex-potential renter scuttled away, like the roach he was.
“Koa,” the warning in Tutu’s tone was clear.
Some women may have felt rattled being treated the way Tutu had just been, but not Tutu. It was a normal Saturday morning for her, and she was more intent on teaching her grandson a lesson than worrying over what could have been.
“Tutu, you could have been hurt!” Koa exclaimed.
She lifted her eyebrow, telling Koa in one gesture that he needed to calm down.
“I had it under control,” she said. “He was one hot-headed boy. A lot like da one standing in front of me.”
But didn’t she understand? Tutu could control Koa because he loved her. This guy had none of that and was much bigger than his tiny grandma.
“Tutu,” Koa didn’t know how to explain without offending Tutu. So he wouldn’t. But he had to get through to her how dangerous this could have been.
“Koa. I know you think I’m one foolish old lady. But I called Enoka before da boy came over and told him if I yell, come over wit one bat,” Tutu explained.
Koa had no doubt their neighbor would have done just that. The neighbors all loved Tutu nearly as much as Koa did. But what if she hadn’t been given the chance to yell?
“Koa, I made ‘em through fifty-five years of life before you even appeared on this earth. I know you want to argue that this means we can’t have one renter. But we need one. I not letting you work any harder than you already do.”
“Tutu,” Koa said again but Tutu shushed him.
“The next one coming to look is one girl.”
Next one?
“She coming in fifteen minutes. And you not goin’ scare her away, ah?”
She had another possible renter lined up? Of course, she did.
“Tutu,” Koa tried once more.
“I said what I said. In fact, I want you for stay in your room while she stay here.”
“What if..?” Koa tried to say, since repeating Tutu wasn’t working.
Tutu cut him off. “I knew da boy was one bad one as soon as he walked in the house. But I had ‘em under control. With the girl you stay in your room, and I will decide if she can rent one room in my house, ah? You don’t say one word.”
This was a bad idea.
But with Tutu’s stern glare, Koa knew there was only one acceptable answer. And at least he’d be in the house for this tour.
“Yes, Tutu,” he muttered and then allowed himself to be shoved into his bedroom like he was six years old again.
Koa sat on the couch he had in the corner of his room, hating that all he could do was sit and wait. A female roommate wasn’t ideal for him, but she would be for Tutu. Koa was gone so much with work. He’d hardly see the woman, whereas she’d be Tutu’s daily companion.
Yes, if they had a renter, a female was the only option.
He just didn’t think they needed a renter.
The chime on his phone sounded, letting him know he received a text.
My Aunty came in from Oahu the other day. Looks like she might take the girls back with her. She’s pissed at my cousin but grateful I let her know what was going on. I should have been looking out for those girls. Mahalo for the heads up Koa. You’re a real one.
Koa typed back immediately.
Glad it all worked out.
Koa smiled, grateful for the update from Liam.
When Koa decided to look into Angel’s situation, it had actually been quite easy.
He’d found out the little girl’s name from Kristin, and then somehow Angel’s mom had come up in conversation with his coworker Jimmy.
Jimmy had told Koa he played poker with Angel’s mom’s cousin, Liam.
Koa knew Liam from their old beach days, so when Koa had reached out, Liam had responded quickly.
He’d had no idea things had gotten so bad with Angel’s mom.
The family knew addiction had been an issue once upon a time, but they were sure she was clean.
Most of the family on the island lived in Lahaina and didn’t see Angel, her sister, or her mom often.
Liam had gone straight to Angel’s home, seen that her mom wasn’t right, and called his aunty.
She’d caught the first available island-hopper flight, and it looked like the girls were going to be okay.
A knock sounded on the screen door, pulling Koa from his thoughts, and he strained to hear the conversation between Tutu and the possible new renter.
It really wasn’t fair that she’d banished him to his room like this. He was just trying to protect his grandma. Yes, he could see how she thought he’d undermined her, but the guy had been in her face. What was Koa supposed to do?
“You have a lovely home.”
Koa’s stomach dropped, and it had nothing to do with not wanting a renter for his grandmother’s home. That voice was familiar…but there was no way.
Koa walked to the door, pressing his ear against it.
“I bought ‘em with my husband forty years ago,” Tutu explained.
“The kitchen looks updated,” the voice said happily.
It sounded like her, but there were surely other women who sounded like that. She couldn’t be the only one with that voice. It was just that she’d spent more time than she should have in Koa’s thoughts, and now they were just tormenting him. That had to be it.
“My grandson did most of da work,” Tutu said proudly.
“He must be pretty handy,” the voice spoke up once more, and Koa needed a peek. Just a tiny peek to settle his overactive imagination.
Koa cracked open his door and pressed his eye into the sliver of an opening. Before he could make out the woman who was touring his home, she walked beyond his line of sight leaving only Tutu. Who sent a glare down the hall.
He shut the door, annoyed at himself for having been caught. Though, to be fair, he was used to breaking down doors, not peeking through them.
The conversation became muffled, and Koa assumed they were in the living room. The side door opened and shut, telling him they went out to look at the carport and extra storage space. The same door opened and shut once more. They were back inside.
Footsteps sounded in the hall just outside of his bedroom.
The two empty rooms in their house were on the other side of the hall, one across from his and the other across from Tutu’s.
Those two rooms had an adjoining Jack-and-Jill bath, though Koa had remodeled his and Tutu’s side so that each room had its own bathroom.
“We won’t have another renter, so dis bathroom is yours. My grandson and I have our own bathrooms,” Tutu explained.
“Oh, that’s really nice. But if you need to have another renter, I won’t mind sharing,” the voice said kindly.
Koa knew the woman was winning Tutu over. He could feel her approval in the air.
“We good, but that’s nice of you for offer,” Tutu replied.
Koa could read his grandmother like a book and knew he had about two minutes before she offered this girl the room for rent. But before that, Koa had to know that it wasn’t pretty non-tourist on the other side of his door. Even if it meant his grandmother’s wrath.
He slowly and carefully turned the knob to his door. Not a squeak. Thank you WD40. He pulled his door in, a centimeter at a time, giving himself the most measly crack to press his eye to.
Thankfully, Tutu’s back was to him.
But that gratitude quickly fled when he saw the woman standing in front of Tutu.
His body went cold.
It couldn’t be.
And yet there stood pretty first-grade teacher…Ms. Goodman. How did this keep happening to him? In a knee-jerk reaction, he opened the door a bit more.
Ms. Goodman stopped whatever she’d been saying mid-sentence, mouth open and eyes wide with shock.
Tutu began to turn, and Koa closed the door before she could catch him. Though what else could have caused Ms. Goodman to freeze, he didn’t know. Tutu would definitely blame him when the woman ran out of the house like her shirt was on fire.
But that was for the best. Ms. Goodman needed to know what she was getting into. What if she hadn’t known Koa was about to be her roommate and she’d agreed to live with them? Koa couldn’t imagine the repercussions then.
Yes, Tutu would be frustrated and probably angry at him. But he’d take that. Poor Ms. Goodman had already been through enough at his hand, he wouldn’t subject her to living with him.
He wondered if now was the time to go out there and apologize.
But then it might look like he was pressuring her to take the room.
That he was only apologizing to appease his Tutu.
And he couldn’t stand it if that was the impression she had of him.
From the little he’d seen of her character, she seemed pretty amazing.
K.J. had fallen in love with his teacher quickly.
And Koa didn’t want a woman like that thinking any worse of him than she already did.
But could she think any worse of you?
The unbidden thought was banished.
Koa should have stayed near the door to continue listening to the conversation since their voices had become quieter as they’d left the hall. But after shutting the door, he’d fled the scene of the crime as far as he could and was now seated back on his couch.
If Koa hadn’t so royally messed up with Ms. Goodman, he’d have thought that fate was trying to push them together with the amount of times they’d run into one another.
But fate wouldn’t have been so cruel as to put Ms. Goodman at Puka’s while he’d bad-mouthed her and then make him think they should be together.
Granted, fate hadn’t spoken the words Koa had said, Koa had made that decision all on his own.
So she’d find somewhere else to rent. Koa would continue to hear about what a wonderful teacher she was from K.J., and the way he’d treated her would continue to haunt his thoughts as a colossal mistake.
The screen door shut one last time, and Koa waited in his room for Tutu to come and scold him.
Honestly, he deserved it. Maybe not for kicking that guy out or even for peeking and ruining the renter situation, but he surely did for the way he’d treated Ms. Goodman.
Ms. Goodman he could never apologize to because the timing was never right.
No, not never apologize to. Now that he knew she was here on the island for good, he needed to make the opportunity happen. He couldn’t keep chalking up his lack of acting due to bad timing.
But he couldn’t apologize right away. He’d need to give it some time so it didn’t seem like he’d come to her only to beg her to take the room.
He didn’t want anything to mar the sincerity of what he was saying, but one day he’d find her and truly apologize.
He wouldn’t stutter over his words saying the wrong thing.
He’d give her the apology not because it was convenient or because he wanted to appease his guilt but because she deserved it.